August 14, 2015

1. We eat Sunday supper on the back deck at my folks’. Torches (and copious amounts of bug spray) ward away mosquitoes. The weather is perfect. Our barbecue is delicious. And the heavy-duty strand of lights my parents and I hung the day before off the side of the house allow us to see clearly even after the sun has set.

2. Eri and I meet up Friday evening along the Hudson River. We drink smoothies and sit in the park and meet a gigantic and friendly cat on a leash (and his equally friendly owner) and eat veggie burgers and fries outside. Karen and I meet up for lunch on Sunday in my old town. We walk along Main Street and end up at a cafe that moved in after I left and eat tasty crepes and drink Avery sodas on their front patio. We conclude our visit with a trip to the coffeehouse, my favorite spot on the planet to get steamed milk.

3. We pull over to pick up a couple ears of corn from a pair of boys who’ve set up a stand in their front yard. A self-propelled car left over from toddler days holds spare ears.